1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing computer based printing, scanning and faxing. In particular, the present invention relates to systems and methods for describing a fax operation as a sequence of commands from a fax description language (FDL) forming a program unit, wherein the program unit may be constructed, transmitted and executed in a single operational step. The present invention further relates to systems and methods for configuring, sending and/or retrieving facsimile messages for fax jobs, wherein the fax job requests are sent through a print subsystem.
2. Background and Related Art
Techniques currently exist whereby information may be sent or received via facsimile. Some techniques allow for information to be sent/received via facsimile over a publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). A user may employ a fax machine to send information via facsimile by placing a document in a document feeder of the fax machine, entering at a front panel the telephone number of a destination fax machine, and pressing the send button to initiate the fax transmission. The fax machine scans the document, converts the analog signals to a fax format, connects to the destination fax machine, and transmits a copy of the document to the destination fax machine across the PSTN. A confirmation may be provided to the user to acknowledge that the fax transmission occurred.
Once the information sent via facsimile has arrived at the destination fax machine, the information is converted from a fax formatted document to an image format native to the destination fax machine, which then prints the image on paper and delivers it to an output tray. A user at the destination fax machine may then obtain the faxed copy of the document from the output tray.
Other techniques do not require either the PSTN or a paper output/input at one or both ends. For example, one technique sends a facsimile from an electronic image out to the PSTN rather than requiring a document to be loaded into a document feeder. The user sends the electronic image by use of a fax application, which converts the image to a fax format (e.g., G3 or G4). The fax application transmits the facsimile out via a fax modem, which dials the destination and sends the fax.
Another technique receives a facsimile as an electronic image from the PSTN. And, rather than outputting the facsimile as a paper document to an output tray, an electronic fax service is utilized for delivery of the facsimile. An example of an electronic fax service is an internet fax service that allows users to receive fax messages via email. The user registers an email address with the service, which provides the user with a fax telephone number that originates at the service. When a fax is sent to the fax number, it arrives in an electronic format at a server, is converted to an email message by the service, and is sent to the email address registered by the user. Another internet technique embraces sending/receiving a fax via the internet by dynamically binding the sender and the receiver at the time of transmission through a service.
Another technique allows facsimile messages to be sent or received electronically to/from a computing device, which is typically referred to as PC-FAX. To send an electronic fax from a computing device to a multifunctional peripheral (MFP) with fax capabilities, a fax driver is used, such as a graphics device interface (GDI) fax driver. In this technique, the user opens the document to be faxed in the respective application and selects File→Print from the main application menu. From the print menu, the user selects the corresponding fax driver and specifies fax options. The application converts the document data into GDI data that is passed to the GDI fax driver, which converts the GDI data into a format compatible with the fax device. The fax data is then despooled to the MFP.
To receive an electronic fax at the computing device from an MFP with fax capabilities, a fax server process is used that runs on the computing device. The process runs continuously in the background and listens or polls for messages from the MFP. When a fax arrives at the MFP, the MFP connects to the fax server process and uploads the fax in a format compatible with the fax server process.
Thus, while techniques that enable information to be sent or received via facsimile currently exist, developers are continually attempting to improve the fax process for users, such as by making the fax process more efficient and/or convenient. Accordingly, it would be an improvement in the art to augment or even replace current techniques with other techniques.